6 Thoughts I Have Had Shopping As A Size 12 Girl In India

Being a size 12 is like being in your mid-twenties. It’s perplexing. At 25, you are still years from being called a “real adult” but too old to be living off your parents’ money. At a size 12, you are in a similar predicament. You are two bodacious sizes away from being recognised as a plus-size girl, but skinny you most definitely are not (who are you kidding?) Being at the size for a solid two years, I have learnt that the hard way.

Picture Credit: Karan Bhojwani (image for reference only)

I am a size 12 force to be reckoned with, who loves her body… on most days… okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration… it’s 50-50. Bottomline: I don’t hate my body. I like to dress it up in designer finery, in heavily-discounted high-street labels, in thrift shop merchandise... I like it all. Yet, despite my unfathomable need for fashion, disappointment is an old friend. You see, for most brands, it’s all a grey area after size 10, almost like it is the last train to perfection, and God knows you need to get on it. Well, I have missed that train by a mile. My curves are too fabulous to be contained in a medium-sized bodycon. Nothing less than a large for me, thank you!

With this, let me take you down a path of frustration and self-doubt, the agony of shopping for a girl my size, of trying to fit my thick thighs into skinny jeans, of being told that I am not the size that I say I am. TALK. TO. MY. HAND.

While buying jeans

“Wasn’t it enough that I was size 12? Did my genes have to bless me with a shocking waist-to-hip ratio? Should I buy waist 32 or 34? Oh, wait, 34 is unflattering at my waist, but, hey, it did fit better on the thigh, eh? Gah, I will just go with 32. I’ll hold my breath the first two times I wear it. Just for fun, should I try size 30? Oh, wait, it fits me! What’s in the world is my damn size?”

While buying a bodycon dress

“Oooh, I am feeling myself! Gotta wear a bodycon because, baby, I am a firecracker. Size large, size large, size large, oh there it is! Oh no, that’s a medium. Let me check the other racks! Nope, no large. *heads to the sales attendant* Hey, can I get a large in this? Oh, this dress has sizes only till size medium. Nice.”

While buying an A-line dress

“Well, this should be good. You can’t go wrong with a skater dress, right? W-R-O-N-G! They’ve got the bust all wrong. Curvy doesn’t mean I have sagging boobs, and it absolutely does mean that I cannot wear anything that’s above the knee. Why do all large dresses have draggy hems? You diarrheal cesspool of a brand, why must you strip me of my right to look sexy? Just why?”

While buying shorts

“I’m feeling like I need some punishment today, so I’m going to try buying a pair of shorts online. It’s the absolute worst. Why am I even doing this to myself? The size chart is all wrong. 36 hip size for a large woman? Are you friggin’ kidding me? Beyonce has a bigger booty than that! Whoever made this chart, you, my friend, are failing all the curvy women of the world. In fact, you are asserting that my 42’ butt has no business being in a tiny pair of shorts. You should be cancelled for 2018.”

While buying a bodysuit

“I swear it said ‘Large’. Then why the hell is it riding up my ass? God, I am going to develop a rash, then I’ll have to skip gym. FOR WEEKS. I am going to grow into a size 14 and it is going to be even harder to shop. I hate this life where I can’t even wear a bodysuit!”